How To Restore WordPress Site From Backup – GUIDE [2024]

Restore WordPress From Backup

You have made a false manipulation on WordPress and want to restore your site to fix the issues that have arisen? Have you been the victim of a malicious attack on your wordpress website?

But what if after completing the migration, you find that some critical WordPress files have not been migrated? Unfortunately, there is no easy “Reset” or “Undo” button that can reverse this.

This is why it is important to keep a backup of WordPress website so you can restore the files and repeat the migration.

Restoring WordPress from a backup is essential if you’ve made any recent changes to your website. However, it can be complicated for beginners. In this article, you will learn how to restore your WordPress website from backup easily. As there are many ways to restore from backup, we will talk about some of the easiest ways to do it.

This step-by-step guide on how to restore WordPress from backup includes.

• Restoring wordpress backup on localhost
• wordpress backup and restore to a new server
• wordpress restore plugins
• restoring wordpress database phpmyadmin
• restoring wordpress from zip backup
• restore wordpress from backup godaddy

But first, let’s understand the various components of a website that need to be backed up and restored. Also check out our related posts that might help you in the process –

• Check your WordPress File and Folder Permissions
•  Export WordPress Database via PhpMyadmin

Why You Should Backup & Restore WordPress Database

An open-source content management system as popular as WordPress is unquestionably the target of thousands of malicious attacks around the clock. And given the demand, surely WordPress is a secure platform, right? The answer is both yes and no.

The WordPress core is quite secure but the CMS works in a complex environment. Although the platform is closely monitored by the core team and dozens of volunteers from all over the world, sometimes the security of your site is beyond these people.

Time by time, industry experts have found that outdated plugins are one of the biggest causes of WordPress sites getting hacked. This is valid for all popular CMS.

Plugins are the biggest source of vulnerability in websites built with WordPress. Hackers usually exploit the vulnerability in one of the plugins you use to access your website. During such incidents, backups are your disaster recovery plan.

WordPress recommends having at least three backups at a time, preferably in three remote locations such as a hard drive or file hosting services like Dropbox. If anything happens to one save, the other two will be there to save you the day.

Above all, you should not store a backup on the same hosting server, for two obvious reasons:

If your server goes down, you won’t be able to recover the backup either, so you’ll be stuck and you won’t be able to host your website on another server.

The security risks are enormous because hackers could get their hands on your backup, and thus gain clear access to your source code and your passwords.

What is the role of backups in WordPress security?

Security for WordPress site is an ongoing process. The landscape is constantly changing and therefore what you do now to protect your site may not work tomorrow. Our team has put together this comprehensive WordPress Security Guide Checklist to help you secure your WordPress site.

Smaller website owners tend to take site security lightly.

In the year 2024, WordPress security must be taken seriously. WordPress has a history of being hacked, so preventive measures must be implemented to secure your WordPress site from various vulnerabilities.

Two types of destructive mindsets exist: The first believes that security is absolute and static while the second believes that the website in its possession is too small, too insignificant to become a target.

It’s this lenient mindset and lack of understanding of the landscape that makes small to medium-sized websites an easy target for hackers.
Contrary to what many people believe, it’s not the size that matters, hackers hijack your site to exploit its resources in order to launch sneaky campaigns that you ignore.

Therefore, WordPress security issues are a valid concern for websites of all shapes and sizes and especially small ones are targeted.
It should be noted that hackers do not specifically target you, they aim to divert your resources, so they will do everything to be discreet and that you do not notice them.

Imagine burglars trying to break into your home at night while you sleep? They won’t turn on the light, and will make as little noise as possible! It’s the same thing for a website, they will be discreet and you will surely notice it when it’s already too late!

As a result of the security breach in WordPress, your website posts will be deleted, files will be corrupted or worse you could be locked out of your own site.

In such situations, you need to act fast. You will need to Restore WordPress from Backup to Staging site first but you can only do this when you have a backup of all your essential data ready to be restored. If you already dont have a staging site setup, check our our guide on – Best WordPress Staging Plugins To Create A Test Site

The first step in securing your site against hacks is to know vulnerabilities in your wordpress website. This is where our WordPress security audit comes in. According to Wordfence, “one of the best ways to keep WordPress secure is to run a security scan for known vulnerabilities and fix them before hackers can take advantage of them.” You can use these wordpress security scanners to scan for all known wordpress vulnerabilities and fixes them so that no hacker can exploit them.

Depending on the severity of the damage, your site can be up and running in hours or even days.

In some cases, hackers can spread malware to all parts of your website, which makes the situation even more complicated. In such cases, restoring backups may be your only option.

Key components of WordPress site databse

Any WordPress installation comprises several components, which are its essential building blocks. There are 4 WordPress components you should always back up:

1. WordPress Core – This makes up the core WordPress files, including the source code, WordPress functions, and website settings.
2. WordPress Database – This comprises the WordPress backend files that store your website information. This includes database tables that contain vital records such as user credentials, articles, website posts, and website metadata.
3. WordPress Plugins – These are third-party plugins or tools that are built into your WordPress installation to enhance overall functionality. They can be easily downloaded from the WordPress repository . Check out our list of Best WordPress security plugins in 2024.
4. WordPress Themes – These are again third-party applications used to enhance the overall look and design of your website. Just like plugins, there are plenty of free secure WordPress themes available on the repository and other online marketplaces.

A WordPress backup typically contains these four components. As a result, restoring from backup means restoring these components to the website. Let us now see how to perform the restore process.

There are some common wordpress errors that you may come across when restoring your WordPress website from backup.

• Error establishing a database connection
• Blank Screen in WordPress – White Screen of Death
• 500 Internal Server Error
• 504 Gateway Timeout in WordPress 
•  There has been a critical error on your website
• WordPress Posts returning 404 Error

Restoring Your WordPress Databse From Backup – 4 Ways

You have come to the right place: here we teach you how to restore your WordPress files from the last backup made.

How To Restore WordPress data using phpMyAdmin?

To restore data when your site has suffered damage due to an error or an attack, from the last file you exported, go to “Import” on the phpMyAdmin interface.

Step 1: Log into your hosting account and navigate to your phpMyAdmin.

Step 2: Click on “Databases” where you will see a drop-down list of all tables.

Note: For hacked WordPress sites, it is best to delete your infected databases first before restoring the backup. We also suggest that you make a backup of this database before deleting anything.

To delete the database, select it in the left section. Once you click on a specific database, all the tables are displayed. Click on the “Select all” option, all the tables are thus selected. Then click on “delete” to eliminate the set.

As mentioned above, only do this if your site has been hacked and you need to clean up your database. Otherwise, skip this step.

Step 3: Select the database whose information you want to restore. Click on the “Import” tab (at the top).

Step 4: A new window opens when you click on the “Browse” button

Step 5: By clicking on the “Choose File” button, a new window will open. Import from your files the necessary MySQL database.

Validate the import by clicking on the “Execute” button at the bottom of the screen. A success message will be displayed if the import was successful. This is where your WordPress database backup is stored.

Step 6 : Then click “format”, select “SQL format” and click “go” at the bottom of the page. Even though the process only has a few steps, the restore time is very long. Once done, visit your website to verify that it is restored.

To restore the files of your site from the backup made previously, the simplest method is to go to the files of your site and replace all the contents of the “public_html” folder with the one you backed up on a date anterior.

How to Restore WP Backup Using Cpanel?

If you are a cPanel user, you can make backups of your site manually by using the Backup or Backup Wizard tool. Both tools perform the same function, but Backup Wizard gives you step-by-step guidance to walk you through the process.

To restore WordPress from backup using cPanel,

1. log into your cPanel account.
2. Then scroll down and select Backup Wizard. The Backup Wizard is split into three straightforward steps.
3. Under Step One, click on Restore.
4. Next, you need to select the component of your website that you would like to restore. Here we have chosen MySQL Databases
   
5. Next, click on Choose File and select the downloaded zip file from its storage location. Then click Upload.
6. cPanel will now restore your database from backup.

How To Restore WordPress Files from FTP backups?

FTP allows you to transfer files between your local computer and the server on the Internet. To restore your archived backups using FTP, you need to install an FTP client, FileZilla, and have your FTP credentials ready.

Step 1: Open FileZilla. Enter your FTP credentials and click “quick connect” to connect to the server. Make sure you have the latest version of FileZilla.

Step 2: Once connected to the server, you will see the local files on the left window of the screen and the deleted site on the right.

First, identify the WordPress files on the site in error. In a recent WordPress installation, the WordPress files would be under the root “www” directory or a folder with your site’s name. Enter the file.

If you see folders like “wp-content”, “wp-includes”, or “wp-admin”, you’ve come to the right place.

Then on the left section, make sure the backup files are all in the saved file on the local system. If your backup is stored in a zipped file, be sure to unzip it before manually restoring WordPress.

Step 3: Now drag and drop all files from the local folder (left section) to the WordPress folder on the error site (right section). You can choose to overwrite the files.

The process seems simple enough, but it’s important not to forget any crucial files or folders while loading.

If you are unsure of the process, call a professional.

Note: A full restore of your WordPress site can sometimes take up to several days using the manual method.

How To Restore WordPress Backup using Plugins?

UpdraftPlus backup

If you followed our previous tutorial on creating WordPress backups how to backup WordPress database manually & with plugins?

You may have chosen to use the UpdraftPlus plugin to perform your backups. Let’s see together how to restore them.

Your backups will be displayed on the same page of your site’s settings, you can choose a backup to restore it by clicking on the “Restore” button located to the right of the name of the backup.

You will only have to choose the backup components to restore and then click on “Next” to execute the restoration of the selected components.

There you go, your data is restored!

BlogVault – A Premium WordPress Backup/Restore Solution

BlogVault Plugin provides WordPress site backup service. There is no plugin that drags the whole installation out with each backup cycle (a small plugin is just there to bridge the gap between your site and BlogVault).

The other feature that appealed to me with them is the partial backup, that is to say, that if you have modified 3 articles, added 8 images and updated 2 plugins and well only these modifications will be saved.

Clearly, everything that has been modified is saved. No need to re-record what is already.

This speeds up the backup process and consumes less resources.

In addition, BlogVault Plugin allows you to migrate, restore, send your backups to Dropbox and also take some measures to secure your site.

Once the first backup is done, you will be covered.

Now let’s take some time and walk through the BlogVault dashboard.

For each site you add, you will be offered a list of options on the right. Let’s see what each of them corresponds to:

• Remove Site: Remove the site from BlogVault if you no longer want to back it up (you will be asked for confirmation).
• Re-install Plugin: Install the BlogVault plugin again.
• Backup Now: Click here to start a backup immediately. This button is useful when you are about to do something sensitive on your site. In case of a problem, you can cancel everything quickly.
• Test-Restore: Before proceeding with a restore, you can test it directly on BlogVault. This allows you to experiment by restoring directly to your site. After a short wait, this window will appear when the test site is ready.

Click Access Test-Restore to launch the test site. Unfortunately, you will not be able to access the administration of the test site. Browse the site and if everything is good, return to BlogVault and click on Remove Test-Restore to remove the test site.

• History: Access the backup history. For each backup you can:
• Auto-restore: Automatically restore your site (you will need to enter your FTP credentials)
• Migrate-site: Migrate the site to the host of your choice or to a subfolder (practical to work on it quietly)
• Download Backup: Download Backup
• Test-Restore: Test the backup on BlogVault’s servers (as mentioned before)
• Upload to Dropbox: Send backup to Dropbox
• Add Note: Add a note

BlogVault is a solution you should consider if your site has a certain audience or serves you professionally. In other cases, the free plugins mentioned above will be more than enough.

If you encounter difficulties in administering your WordPress and securing it, do not hesitate to contact the developers of WP Hacked Help. By publishing your project and your budget, you will quickly obtain many quotes from WordPress experts to answer your problem.

What to Do After Your WordPress Site Is Restored?

Once you have restored your site safely, we advise you to pay attention to the following tasks:

• Login to WordPress admin and make sure everything is working fine. If you have been hacked, check user rights and make sure you know all users.
• Activate the themes and plugins you use. Delete inactive and outdated plugins.
• Check the “front-end” of the site. Make sure the URLs work correctly.
• Make a fresh backup of your restored WordPress site. For simplicity, we recommend installing a plugin.
• Refresh the cache to reload the new data.

In addition, backup and security go hand in hand. We, therefore, recommend that you check out our WordPress Security Guide and follow our WordPress security tips to protect yourself against hacking.

Others Measures You need to take includes the following –

• Password Protect your WordPress Site
• Block Countries In WordPress Using IP Address
• Change WordPress Security Keys & Salts
• Whitelist IP Addresses in WordPress Site To Restrict Login Access
• Track & Log User Activity in WordPress
• Scan & Detect Malware in WordPress Theme

Need Help To Restore Your WordPress Site?

For website backups to be useful in the event of a website crash, WordPress users need to be able to access and restore their backups in the least amount of time possible. Although it is possible to do it manually, it is usually a complex procedure that requires time and patience. Even the smallest error may require redoing the restore.

In such a case, it is better to opt for a backup plugin that has simplified the restore process. Automated tools provide user-friendly restoration processes that can be performed faster and without much hassle.

While restoring WordPress from a backup or files is usually a pretty straightforward process, there are times when you might run into some issues

With Wp Hacked Help, You’ll most likely never have to worry about this. We’ve got different backup options and we can restore your site at any time within minutes! If your site happens to be hacked or infected with any kind of malware, our expert WordPress team will fix hacked wordpress quickly.

Good Luck, trying to restore WordPress from a backup………………

24/7 WP Security & Malware Removal

Is your site hacked or infected with malware? Let us get it fixed for you

Secure My Website(s)